


The Crystal

by MaxTheDumbass



Series: The Crystal [1]
Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Invisible Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Joxter unknowingly helping his son with his daddy issues, M/M, Moomin has a sexuality crisis, Slow Burn, Snufkin forced to deal with the disaster dads, Snufkin is emo, Snusmumriken | Snufkin Has Paws and a Tail, the rumor come out does is moominpappa is bi?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:28:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22574818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxTheDumbass/pseuds/MaxTheDumbass
Summary: Snufkin is being an angsty teen who is pushing his friends away. when he runs off into the forest to find an unusual glowing crystal. upon touching it he finds himself trapped in the time of the Oshun Oxtra. even more worryingly, it seems him running off to "be independent and be left alone" turned him invisible.
Relationships: Joxaren | The Joxter & Muminpappan | Moominpappa, Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: The Crystal [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646818
Comments: 34
Kudos: 149





	1. Independence

Snufkin had never really been bothered by his solitary life. Sure, he did enjoy the occasional companion on his adventures, a clever Moominmanma more than willing to get her hands dirty, a fair Snorkmaiden to notice the more delicate details in nature, or an idiot named Sniff who just so happened to be good at spotting shiny things. But if he were never to have a companion on his adventures again he'd be more than fine with that.

In all honesty, Snufkin didn't understand how others didn't go insane surrounded by people. 11 o’clock brunch, 3 o'clock book club, o'clock tea time, it all seemed so overwhelming to him.

No Snufkin was just fine on his own, no one to tell him what to do or who to be, just him and the starry night sky.

Yet every spring he found himself heading back to the same valley with the same people. He didn't know what exactly it was that dragged him back to Moomin Valley each year, but again and again, he found himself coming back. Perhaps it was the beautiful views that the valley held, or perhaps it was the excellent fishing spots all over the valley, or maybe even the endless beautiful hills overrun with every color of the rainbow.

Or maybe it was Moomintroll.

Moomintroll was Snufkin's best friend, and the only person Snufkin truly deeply cared about. They would spend hours sitting on the edge of the creek fishing together and talking about everything and nothing. They were kindred spirits, two of a kind, peas in a pod.

Although Snufkin was adamant about wanting to be alone, a tiny small spec of him wished to stay with Moomintroll each wither. Cuddle up against his fluffy white fur as the two of them slept peacefully through the winter months.

But Snufkin knew better, he knew to push those kinds of thoughts to the deepest depths of his mind. 

Spending the winter with the Moomins would make him miserable! Spending all this time in the same place curled up with one all safe a warm with one person, that would be utterly unbearable. He should know better than to let himself get too attached to the Moomin family.

He had learned the hard way he wasn't the family type.

So this spring just like all the others that came before, he headed towards the familiar silhouette of the Moomin house on the horizon, reminding himself he was there to enjoy the scenery and nothing more.

And like every spring he found Moomintroll waiting for him on the bridge, who's eyes lit up as soon as he saw him.

He jumped up excitedly running to the murmiks side eager to hear tales of his winter adventures. Snufkin could see him almost vibrating with excitement.

Snufkin couldn't lie, it was admittedly pretty nice to have someone care about him so much. To have someone overjoyed at the very sight of him, it was sweet. But he also understood that if Snufkin were never to return to the valley Moomintroll would quickly learn to move on.

He wasn't that important.

“Snufkin your back!” the Moomin said excitedly as Snufkin sat down to fish.

“How very observant of you, yes it does appear i have returned to the valley how about”

“Oh right of course s-sorry Snufkin” Moomintroll said awkwardly puffing out his chest slightly which caused snufkin to chuckle softly.

Things seemed perfect, just the two of them.

“so how was hibernation?” Snufkin asked casually looking at the calm river water.

Moomin groaned “Oh Tove, it was totally agony! I couldn't get a wink of sleep”

“How unfortunate a maiden like you needs their beauty sleep”

“Hey! i'm a masculine and mature Moomin thank you very much”

Snufkin chuckled slightly “i'm sure”

“Listen i wouldn't be having this problem if The Mymble hadn't shown up with all 30 of her children in the middle of winter!”

Snufkin stiffened up, his mother was here? That was definitely a less than ideal situation. He hadn't seen any of his family in almost four years, not since the fight with his pappa. And honestly he didn't plan to see them again any time soon.

“I see” Snufkin said awkwardly “How long will she be staying here”

“Me and Little My built her like a houseboat kinda thing? I don't know admittedly” he said with a shrug “but unfortunately we're still stuck with Little My, the ringmaster of the Mymble circus”

Snufkin cleared his throat, “how unfortunate”

Moomin tilted his head slightly confused “Do you know her? Met her on your travels or something?”

Snufkin shook his head as he quickly started to get up “What no of course not, listen don't worry about it Moomintroll”

“oh umm okay”

“Hey you know what, i haven't even set up my tent yet how forgetful of me, i should uhh go do that, yes i'm uhh going to go and uhh set up my tent”

“I thought you were fishing?”

“oh you know the fish aren't biting see you later Moomintroll” Snufkin quickly gathered his things heading off before Moomintroll could start asking any more questions.

How could he be so stupid! And why out of all his siblings did it have to be Little My!

Out of all his siblings Little My was the most gremlin like, which was honestly saying something. Seemingly never able to grow an inch she was the very definition of tiny but mighty, she'd completely annihilate you and then make you thank her for it. But that wasn't really what Snufkin was worried about.

Out of all his siblings, Little My was the only one who called him out for his actions.

Snufkin layed alone in a field not really motivated to put up his tent as he just mindlessly stared up at the sky, trying to think of something to do. Should he flee the valley? He definitely would miss the beautiful landscapes, but there plenty of other beautiful places in the world, and of course he'd miss his dear friend Moomintroll, but Moomintroll would move on eventually. They both would.

Just as Snufkin was considering running away again never to speak of his time in Moomin Valley, he was so rudely interrupted with an unwelcome, but familiar voice.

“Joxterpappa misses you you know” Little My was standing over him, her face an uncomfortable mix of anger and disappointment.

Snufkin rolled over to avoid her gaze trying to hide from the guilt hiding in his chest “well that's his problem”

“You're really not coming back are you”

“I don't intend to no” Snufkin sighed “besides your one to talk aren't you? I don't see you staying with mamma”

“I'm 18! Besides she knows where i am and knows i need some space” she popped into Snufkin's vision unexpectedly causing him to flinch slightly “You just ran away at age 12 without every saying why!”

“You wanna know why” Snufkin started as he started sitting up looking down at his significantly shorter sister, “it's because i like to be left alone! I don't want some annoying older sister telling me what to do! I want to do what I want when I want it! So why don't you just leave me alone!”

Little My tried to keep her normal face of mild annoyance at life itself, but snufkin knew his sister. He could tell she was hurt by what he had said.

But in all honesty Snufkin didn't really care. 

Little My stormed off, and he didn't bother to watch her go.

None of this would have happened if he hadn't gotten so attached to this cursed valley! If he hadn't gotten so attached to Moomintroll!

He was supposed to be a traveler wasn't he! He should know better than to get so attached to people and places, he’d be moving onto new ones before he knew it.

So maybe, it was for the best if he gave Moomintroll some space, for both of their sakes.

Weeks passed and Snufkin didn't say a word to Moomintroll. Theyd occasionally meet eyes from the opposite side of river as Snufkin fished, but outside of that had had no interaction in the slightest.

This is what Snufkin wanted was it? Complete and total peace and quiet, no older sisters to tell him what to do, no mamma telling him when to go to bed.

No Moomintroll to worry about him.

He pushed the loneliness away, it was for the best, he and Moomintroll had incompatable lifestyles. It was foolish of him to ever have gotten so attached.

If only Moomintroll could understand that. 

Although they'd rarely see each other face, that didn't stop Moomintroll from trying to contact him. He'd wake up to handwritten letters taped onto his tent asking him what was going on, begging him to come back. Snufkin prayed after a couple weeks the letters would subside but they didn't, they just piled up higher and higher, feeding into his guilt more and more.

Why couldn't he understand he had to do this!

And for the second time this curseded year, Little My decided to pay Snufkin an uninvited visit. He had just headed back to his tent after a fishing trip only to find her eating up his food supply, Snufkin yelped a bit before tripping on his own feet and falling butt first onto the ground.

This resulted in a crackle from Little My, “Oh my what a cool and independent loner you are, no wonder Moomintroll looks up to you so much”

“What do you want Little My”

“What! i can't just give my baby brother a visit”

“Not after i made it clear i didn't want to ever see you again” he growled, his cat like tail wagging dangerously.

“Listen i'm worried about you okay! Moomintrolls poor little heart is broken, he hasn't seen you in months!”

“I can't see him anymore, it's for both of our sakes”

“Oh so you ran away from Joxterpappa for his own sake too did you?”

“he was trying to control me!” Snufkin started to pant unaware of how much he had raised his voice.

“He was a father being protective!”

“Well I don't need a father to protect me!” Snufkin defended as he began to back towards the entrance of his tent.

“Snufkin-”

“What i'm just a kid? I'm going to get hurt?i'm going to make myself miserable? Stop beating around the bush and say what Pappa said why don't you! Why can't you just leave me Alone!”

Little My started to say something but Snufkin didn't hear what it was, he had run away.

Snufkin didn't really care where he was running to, he just needed to get away. Away from a sister who wouldnt just let him live, away from friends he didn't deserve. Just away from all of it.

He took a moment to crouch down to catch his breath before realizing he was completely and utterly lost. He had run deep into the forest where all the trees looked the same and the thick treetops made it impossible to see the sky.

It was beautiful, but a dangerous place to get lost in. There where many stories of people to enter the forest and never return.

At the very least he wouldn't have to worry about Moomintroll finding him here.

Carefully Snufkin took a step forward, the sound of rustling leaves beneath his feet. He observed his surroundings he had gotten himself into deep woods before, i'd be easy doing it again, he was the traveling tramp of nature wasn't he?

That's when he noticed it, a faint blue glow.

Hesitantly Snufkin walked to it trying to see if he could find some sort of landmark. As he pushed back the bramble to get a look at the origin of light he saw a truly magnificent sight. Glowing blue crystals of many different shapes and sizes bolting out the ground, he couldn't quite explain why but something drove Snufkin to get a closer look.

Loosing any and all thoughts of self preservation Snufkin picked up a crystal on the smaller side, roughly the size of his thumb resting it in his palm.

And then, everything went white.


	2. Stranded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge shoutout to the incredible Lex for helping me out with grammar for this chapter! Especially since the grammar for the last chapter was such a hot mess my apologies for that.
> 
> Anyway here's some Snufkin Angst fresh out of the oven!

As Snufkin regained consciousness, it was immediately obvious something was wrong. First of all, he wasn't in the forest he had lost consciousness in; rather, he found himself lying on a warm sandy beach—definitely cause for some degree of concern. 

He looked around for some sign of life or any kind of clue to how he could have gotten here, but he found nothing more than palm trees and seashells. No footprints in sight. If someone had taken him there, they must have left a while ago.

He was stranded and alone.

This was what he wanted, wasn't it? To be completely alone, no one to bother him, no one to tell him what to do. He had told himself over and over again that this was the life he had to lead, independent and alone.

So, why, now that he finally had that, did he feel as if he had a pit in his stomach?

He wouldn't have to worry about disappointing Moomintroll if he didn't return to the valley. He wouldn't have to worry about Little My or any of his other siblings finding him again. He'd be perfectly alone. Yet he felt nothing but dread about this. What was wrong with him?

Almost as if on cue, it began to rain. It was not anything intense—more a light sprinkle to match Snufkin's mood.

Snufkin sat up with a sigh, pulling his knees up to his chest. Deep in his own thoughts, he mindlessly ran his fingers through the soft beach sand, careful to not it stuck in his paws.

Although, with a simple glance down to his paws, he realized sand was the last thing he should be worrying about with them.

No, he was much more worried about the fact he couldn't see them. His paw had turned completely invisible. Which was most definitely not good.

Slowly he rolled up the sleeve on his tunic, only to have his fears confirmed. His entire arm, and what little he could see of the rest of his body, was transparent.

He had heard secondhand tales of people turning invisible during his travels, poor souls who felt that hiding themselves away from the world would be the only way to stay safe. But Snufkin had nothing in common with the victims of invisibility from those stories. He wasn't going to be hurt by anyone. He had no reason to hide. All he had wanted was to be left alone.

The rain grew heavier, although it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Much like cats, mumriks were known for their disdain of water. Snufkin got up and looked for some kind of shelter to shield himself from the rain as he thought to himself.

Did whatever force that was behind the curse of invisibility really think wanting to keep to himself was such a crime? Did it teleport him to this island as some kind of twisted time out spot? 

Uh oh, Snufkin you have a different lifestyle than others. Time to go to an island in the middle of Tove knows where and think about what you've done!

It was ridiculous! What, did his father make this system? It honestly wouldn't surprise, with how he had treated his travels before!

The rain was really starting to pour and Snufkin needed to find that shelter quickly.

Fate really was out to get him, huh?

This wouldn't even be that bad if he could leave this cursed island! He wanted this! He wouldn't keep saying he wanted to be left alone if that wasn't true!

But being trapped on this island for the rest of his life never able to travel? That was Snufkin’s version of hell.

The sound of thunder crashing roared through the sky—Snufkin had caught himself on the verge of a storm. And, by the looks of it, he had lost any chance of finding shelter.

Snufkin was not having a good time. He was cold, he was soaking wet, he was completely stranded, and he was invisible! Not exactly the ideal situation.

Due to a mix of panic and frustration, Snufkin found himself pacing back forth on the beach in the pouring rain as his thoughts consumed him. He was going to die here, wasn't he? There wasn't so much as a tree or anything of the sort to build a raft out of! Oh, Tove, there wasn't any food here, either! That gave him, what, two weeks before he starved to death? Would someone find him by then? Would anyone want to find him after he ran off? Does Moomintroll hate him? Does he care if Moomintroll hates him?

All these questions pounded straight from his head to his chest, which felt like someone was banging like a drum. In the meantime, it just kept raining harder and harder. Out of instinct, he put his paw to his chest and felt an unfamiliar lump.

Great, like he hadn't had enough to deal with today!

The wind really started to pick up, knocking Snufkin's hat off his head. He shakily tried to feel his chest, but he was so shivering cold, and the wind was so strong that he couldn't get a good enough grip to feel what was in his chest.

He really was going to die here, wasn't he?

He really shouldn't have pushed Moomintroll away. If he hadn't, maybe—maybe none of this would have happened.

His vision began to go blurry, and he must have started seeing things, because, right at that moment, he could have sworn he saw a familiar white shape running towards him.

Snufkin tried to call out his name, but no sound escaped his throat. He tried to scream out to him, but all he got was radio silence.

But someone was kind enough to scream for him.

“Moomin, what on earth are you doing! Get back on the boat! We're in the middle of a freaking hurricane! You're going to drown if you stay out there!”

The white shape stopped for a moment turning his head to look behind him. “Just a moment! There's someone stranded out here; I need to help them!”

That voice—Snufkin would recognize that voice anywhere. Moomintroll, it really was him! He had come to save him. Fighting against the harsh wind desperately, Snufkin crawled towards his dear friend.

“Oh, thank Tove you’re alive,” Moomintroll sighed. “Although you aren't exactly in the best conditions are you? Well, worry not. Your brave, young Moomin has come to save you.”

Snufkin had started to sob, almost clinging to Moomintroll.

“Shut up, Moomin and get whoever this is on the ship before we leave without you!”

Moomintroll cleared his throat. “Erm, yes, of course.” In a quick swoop, he picked up the shivering mumrik into his arms as he began to carry him. 

“Let's get you back to the ship. Hopefully my crew mates and I can get you looking in better shape.”

And with that, the two of them ran together towards the water and towards a boat that would take Snufkin to safety.

Except he wasn't exactly Moomintroll, but Snufkin hadn't picked up on that yet.


	3. The Disappearance of Snusmurken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you get what the chapter title is a reference too your officially a weeb ;)

Moomintroll knew something was wrong when Little My skipped out on dinner. The girl had a seemingly never ending hole for a stomach—sometimes the things she ate wouldn't even be food, so seeing her actively choose to skip out on food was a definite cause for concern.

“I'm just not hungry. okay? Geez, can you not hear me behind all that fur?” 

Moominmamma approached her calmly. “Were just worried for you, dear. That's all. You've never skipped dinner before.”

Little My rolled her eyes. “I wouldn't waste your energy worrying about people since it doesn't seem to help anything.”

Moominpappa looked at her with confusion. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I'm just going to my tea pot, okay?”

Moominmamma sighed, “Okay, dear, just please tell us if something is wrong.”

Little My didn't say anything.

Moomintroll tutted. “Moominmamma is so kindly trying to help you, so would it kill you to try and talk to her?”

Moominmamma put a paw on his shoulder. “Now, dear, let's not get angry. I'm sure Little My has her reasons for not wanting to talk. We shouldn't force her.” 

Little My sighed, showing an unfamiliar level of vulnerability. “It’s Snufkin. I'm really worried about him, and when I tried to talk to him he ran off.”

Moomintroll eyed her suspiciously. “Why were you talking to Snufkin? You've never even met him before.”

Moominpappa nodded. “It is quite odd to lose your appetite over someone you don't know.”

Little My rolled her eyes. “Geez, do you have any brain cells in there, you oversized marshmallow? Obviously I know him!” She sighed. “He just decided he didn't want to know me.”

“Oh my, that definitely does sound stressful,” Moominmamma said sympathetically.

Moominpappa still looked confused. “But how do you know Snufkin?”

“Because he's my freaking brother!” Little My groaned annoyed.

Little My was Snufkin’s sister!?

Moomintroll was in complete shock. There was no way that could be true! Snufkin was so different from her! He was so calm and mature and cool, and just so unlike Little My! She had to be lying.

“I don't believe you. You're making it up!”

“Moomintroll dear—” Moominmamma began.

“You know I miss him and you're making fun of me!”

“I'm making fun of you? You just told me I didn't know my own brother!”

“Stop it, both of you!” Moominmamma intervened. “I won't have you two yelling at each other!”

That definitely shut the two of them up.

“I know you’re worried about Snufkin. I am, too, but yelling at each other won't solve anything.”

Moomintroll sighed. She was right. “Sorry, Mamma.”

He looked over at Little My. “He really is your brother?”

She tutted. “Yes! Are you even listening to me?”

“Sorry. Do you have any idea where he could have gone?”

“Nowhere good, I'll tell you that.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Moomintroll asked, trying—and failing—to hide the worry in his voice.

“He ran into the western woods.”

Little My was right. That was definitely nowhere good. The thick, identical trees with leaves hiding the sky made it impossible to navigate. If Snufkin really had run into the western woods, their chances of ever seeing him again dropped by the minute.

“I'm going to look for him,” Moomintroll said, heading for the door.

Little My cackled. “Do you want to get lost, too?”

Moominmamma sat back down at the dinner table. “Oh, I have faith he'll be able to find himself back home without worry. Though I would prefer if he ate dinner before he headed out.” Mamma handed Moomintroll a dinner plate. completely unphased.

“How can you be sure he won't get lost?” Moominpappa asked.

“Motherly instinct.”

So, after dinner, Moomintroll headed towards the woods.

Snufkin's tent was right outside the edge of the woods, making it quite easy to believe he could have ran into them in the heat of the moment. He looked at Snufkin's tent for a moment before hesitantly walking inside.

Without Snufkin inside it, his tent looked empty and sad. It was like a library without any books. The only sign of life left was his lantern burning softly in the corner. Moomintroll hesitantly picked the lantern up as he headed into the woods.

If he didn't know how dangerous it was, he would almost call the woods beautiful. The trees were tall and grand, towering into the sky, and their leaves a soft chartreuse.

“Snufkin?” he called out. “Snufkin, are you there?” Not getting any response, he headed deeper into the woods. After a couple minutes of walking, he heard music.

Getting his hopes up, he excitedly ran to the source of the music and found—

“Too-Ticky?”

She jumped a bit, clearly caught off-guard. “Oi, Moomintroll. You scared me.” In her hands a familiar harmonica.

“Why were you playing Snufkin's harmonica?”

“Trying to see if it could bring him back.”

“Bring him back—He's not dead, is he?”

She shook her head. “Not dead, just missing.”

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“People don't go missing in this forest just because it's hard to navigate.”

“Are there bears in here, or something?”

“No, this be a magical forest.”

“Well, then, what happened to Snufkin?”

“Something about him must've set off the wilderness’s magic, doing Tove knows what to him.”

“And why were you playing his harmonica?”

“Wild magic is unpredictable. Anything can happen with it, and anything can undo it. I was hoping, with how important music is to him, it would revert the magic, but that doesn't seem to be the case,” she sighed, handing the harmonica to Moomintroll.

He looked at the harmonica sadly. “Is this really all that's left of him?”

“Ya, but we can't give up yet. We're gonna find him, I promise you that.”

Moomintroll sighed, “Okay, although… I have to ask, how did you know Snufkin was missing?”

“Little My told me. Quite panicked, that one was. Now we oughta start heading back. This place is even worse at night.”

Hesitantly, Moomintroll nodded. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shout out to Lex for helping me out with the grammar again! Plus some bonus shout outs to Lance, Gillian, and Mango for just being so sweet and supportive when it comes to this fic. i love y'all!


	4. The Oshun Oxtra

Snufkin had experienced a lot during his travels. He has seen wonders, big and small; he has held literal fire; and he has walked where no one else had been before.

But nothing in his four years of travel has prepared him for what he saw when Moomintroll tossed him on board his ship:

His father.

Except it wasn't his father in the way he knew him. No, he was younger than the father he knew, but still older than Snufkin, sure. But his normally pointed features were more rounded and the bags under his eyes from constantly being woken up by Snufkin’s thirty siblings were gone. He was his father, but a much younger version of his father than Snufkin knew.

“He's invisible!” said a voice Snufkin didn't really bother to identify.

“Ahh, yes, how observant of you, Muddler,” The Joxter said sarcastically. “I hadn't noticed that.”

“Oh, uhh, sorry,” the Muddler responded weakly.

That's when it hit him. Joxterpappa? And the Muddler? It wasn't Moomintroll who had saved him:

It was Moominpappa. Snufkin, somehow, had managed to get himself directly into the time of Moominpappa’s memoirs. He was on the Oshun Oxtra.

Definitely not the ideal situation.

The Joxter offered his hand to Snufkin. “You need some help, kiddo? You've been on the floor for a little while now.”

Almost as if his body decided to move on its own, he quickly scrambled away from the Joxter.

Moominpappa tutted. “You're scaring the poor thing! Look at them. Your freaky pointy claws and teeth are scaring them!”

“Babe, my features are a luxury and you know it.”

Before Snufkin could ask what in Tove’s name was the flirting going on between his father and Moominpappa, the latter grabbed his arm with a groan.

“Listen, you go tell Hodgkins we have a new shipmate, and I'll go and get them a new set of clothes.”

Joxter rolled his eyes before dramatically turning around, walking towards the captain’s quarters. “Alright, then. See you later, Moomie.” 

Moominpappa let out an audible “UGHHHHHH” before dragging Snufkin into another room. Snufkin, being physically unable to protest against being dragged around, was forced to just let this happen.

“Let's see,” he began. “You're a couple inches taller than Joxter and Muddler, so I'm not sure anything they own would fit you, but you definitely need to get out of those soggy clothes.”

Due to Snufkin’s situation, that being him being invisible, Pappa was spared from Snufkin's over dramatic eye roll. His clothes being a little messy never hurt anyone. And against the young mumrik’s will, he had a fresh set of clothes tossed at him.

“It's probably going to be a bit big on you, but I think Hodgkins’s old dress clothes should work for now.”

Snufkin looked down at what he had been tossed. A large white long sleeve button up and black dress pants. He tossed them back to Moominpappa.

“Listen, I know they’re a bit big, but can you at least try them on?”

Snufkin put his hands on his hips in an effort to depict how he was feeling.

“You need to wear something! I know from carrying you you don't have thick fur like me. You'll get cold!”

Snufkin gestured to his tunic. He was wearing something!

“You can't wear that—it's wet and filthy!” Moominpappa said, handing the clean clothes to Snufkin, who promptly stood his ground and threw the clothes directly into his face.

“Listen, kid,” Pappa said with an annoyed sigh. “Please just put on the clothes. I'm trying to help you.”

Snufkin attempted to groan but no noise escaped his throat. He didn't need help. At this point, he just needed a ride back to the mainland. He could handle being trapped in the past.

He wouldn't have to feel guilty about avoiding Moomintroll anymore.

Snufkin didn't bother helping Moominpappa pick the clothes off the floor as he turned to face the door. He didn't need anyone's help.

But he had forgotten just how determined Moomins could be. Moominpappa tackled him.

“Listen here, you little tramp!” Moominpappa said with more fierceness than either of the boys knew he had.

Awkwardly, Pappa cleared his throat. “You'll be cold if you stay in those soggy clothes. You should, uh, change into something else.”

Snufkin pulled away, getting the message.

Moominpappa nodded. “Good. Well, uhh, when you're ready, we'll be waiting for you on deck,” he told Snufkin before leaving him alone in the room.

Snufkin sat down on the room's bed, thinking to himself. He really was going to be stuck here. Moominpappa would let him just hide in a corner until they reached land. He looked over at the now wrinkled pile of clothes. He really didn't have a choice.

The clothes definitely didn't fit. He almost had to poke a brand new hole in a nearby belt to keep the pants from falling down. Plus, the shirt’s sleeves were rolled up beyond belief. At least he wasn't wet.

But Snufkin had noticed something while he was getting changed. Something concerning.

He had learned what the lump he felt in his chest before was: it was the crystal from before. Snufkin had no clue how in Tove’s name it had gotten there. But the same crystal that he had touched before he blacked out had now embedded itself into his chest.

Had it been this crystal that had sent him to the island? If so, why send him to this time and place in particular? It seemed unlikely that whatever force teleported him here just so happened to send him to the perfect time and place to be found by someone he knew. So why did this thing choose to send him to the time of Moominpappa’s memoirs, of all things? It didn't make any sense!

If he wanted to be alone, why wouldn't fate just leave him be?

With a silent sigh, Snufkin looked at himself in the mirror. Truly and completely invisible. Was it the crystal that had turned him invisible, or had it been something else?

Did he really qualify as an invisible child? Did he really want to know the answer to that question?

Before Snufkin could get too deep into his own head, he heard a knock on the door.

“Umm, uhh, whenever you’re free, Mr. Hodgkins would like to meet you,” The Muddler said awkwardly. “If you're okay with that.”

Snufkin thought for a minute. He really didn't want to deal with his father and having him all in his personal space. But Moominpappa had treated him kindly, so it would be rude to not at least show some form of thanks.

“Y-yeah, sure. Uhhh, one moment,” said Snufkin in a voice too soft for the Muddler to hear. And then Snufkin headed towards the door.


	5. Hodgkins

After having his mildly frustrating conversation with the ship's new invisible guest, Moomin headed back towards the deck, only to find the equally annoying Joxter waiting for him and shuffling a deck of cards. With a sigh, Moomin sat across the table as Joxter passed him a hand of cards.

“Hodgkins done with you already?”

The Joxter shrugged. “I mentioned the invisibility and then started going through his books. And since I can't exactly read, I just kind of left. Got any sevens?”

“Go fish. I mean, it definitely isn't anything I've ever seen before. No wonder the poor kid was all alone. Their parents must have lost track of them. Even if they were always invisible, they'd still be easy to lose. Got any kings?”

“Go fish,” The Joxter sighed. “You're saying that as if they were born invisible. Got any nines?”

Moomin handed the card over. “What, you think they weren't? That's definitely an absurd thought. Got any threes?”

“Go fish. I dunno, going off of old Hodgkins's reaction, it seems pretty believable. I heard him muttering something about 'invisibility being tricky to deal with'. Got any kings?”

“Take my whole hand, why don't you?” he said with a chuckle. “Honestly, after trying to talk with them, I'll tell you their invisibility isn't the only difficult thing to deal with!”

“Oh?”

“Definitely! You might have someone on par with you when it comes to being an annoyance. Got any nines?”

“Nope."

“What? But you asked for them earlier!”

“That doesn't mean I have them.”

“You can't do that! That's cheating.”

“it’s not, Moomin. Don't be jealous of my master strategy."

“Master strategy, I—Listen here—”

Hodgkins cut him off with the clearing of his throat, getting the boys' attention. He very clearly had something to say. The Muddler quickly ran to sit next to Moomin to get a good listen to what he had to say.

“Now, I'm sure we're all aware of our newest shipmate-”

“Of course!” the Joxter interrupted. “We had to watch Moomin jump off the ship to save them, like an idiot.”

Hodgkins sighed “Yes, of course. Now, as I was saying, invisible children are definitely unique cases.” 

“Do your books say anything about them?” the Muddler asked.

“Only one did,” Hodgkins explained, “and it didn't exactly give me hope about the child's situation before Moomin saved him.”

“Well, what did it say?” the Moomin asked, thinking he was far too old for Hodgkins to avoid directly telling him the truth like this.

Hodgkins looked at the three boys. “The book said that a child would turn invisible as a coping mechanism.”

Moomin titled his head, confused. “A coping mechanism?” 

He nodded. “Those who turn invisible feel as though the only way to stay safe is to hide themselves away from the world. They make themselves invisible so no one can find or hurt them.”

Muddler covered his mouth in shock. “That's terrible! Is there any way to undo it?”

“When it came to cures, the books only had four words.”

“And what were they?” 

“Make them feel safe.”

Make them feel safe? Moomin could make them safe! Moomin could show them so much safety that he wouldn't even remember non-safety! They'd just know good times with their Big Brother Moomin!

Hodgkins turned to the Muddler. “Tell them to come meet me on the deck when they are ready. I would like to talk to them."

He nodded confidently. “Aye aye, captain!” He scuttled inside the ship.

_______________________________

Over the next few days, Snufkin found himself completely overwhelmed with attention.

You know, kid, I was born on quite special stars.

Umm, h-hey there. Would you like to see my button collection?

You ever fought off a park keeper, kid? I could teach you once we reach land.

It was all so suffocating! Why couldn't they see he needed his space! Why did they even care about him? They didn't know him! 

No matter where he went, they'd follow him. He didn't have a scratch of privacy!

Knowing he wouldn't be able to hide in another room without being followed, Snufkin found the nearest corner, curled up in a ball, and tried not to cry. He prayed no one would notice him. But this was the Oshun Oxtra, so of course someone noticed.

But it was not any of the ones who had been so rudely invading his privacy. Noticing the child in the corner, Hodgkins sat a couple inches away from them.

“You look… overwhelmed," he stated.

Snufkin turned to face him. He didn't need eyes to show his annoyance. Of course he was overwhelmed! What sane person wouldn't be?

Hodgkins chuckled. “Alright, point taken.”

Snufkin crossed his arms, annoyed he didn't much enjoy being laughed at.

“I know they can be… a bit much, but trust me. They're good kids. This is their dysfunctional version of trying to make you feel welcome.”

Snufkin leaned back. He didn't need all this. He had agreed to tolerate them, but the last thing he needed was his pappa being all buddy-buddy with him.

“I just want to be left alone,” said Snufkin softly. 

Hodgkins looked at him, surprised, “You can talk?”

Snufkin shrugged.

“Well, trust me. I know wanting to shut myself away more than anyone."

He highly doubted that.

“I'm an inventor, you know, and when I was your age all I wanted to do was lock myself in my room and work on my many different projects."

Where was this going? Why should he care about what Hodgkins was like as a child? That had nothing to do with him.

“I didn't live alone, of course—I had my younger brother in the house with me. He'd beg me to hang out and spend some time together as brothers, but I'd push him away. I just wanted to be left alone.”

Snufkin thought back to his fight with Little My. Maybe he had been a bit harsh on her.

“Then I lost my brother,” Hodgkins said sadly.

Snufkin was hit with an embarrassing wave of empathy at that. Sure, his siblings were annoying, but he wouldn't want them to die. He wouldn't even want his pappa to die, as annoyed as he was with him.

Embarrassingly, he still loved them.

“He was killed in a spring cleaning by humans,” Hodgkins continued. “All I have left of him is his son, the Muddler, who I adopted so I could treat him better than I did his father.”

Tears ran down Snufkin's face as he started to sob. “L-Little My, I'm- I'm sorry." As if his body moved on his own, he hugged Hodgkins.

“Oh, uhh— Hey, kiddo, it's okay—I, uhh-”

“I miss my pappa and-and my sisters and—”

Hodgkins patted his back. “Hey it'll be okay. We can find them again.”

“N-no, I can't. I pushed them away and now I'll never be able to see them anymore. And-and if I can, it'll be wrong!”

“Wrong?” asked Hodgkins.

“Like- like Joxterpappa!”

The Hodgkins hesitantly pulled away from the hug, trying to process what Snufkin had said.

Having realized his mistake, Snufkin jumped up and ran away. He locked himself in his room before anyone could follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hodgkins isn't good with emotional stuff but he's trying god bless


	6. The Joxter Visits Moomin Valley And Moomintroll Has A Sexuality Crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy valentine's day! here's a bit of a longer chapter for y'all! shout out to Mango for convincing me to actually go with this chapter title.

It had been a week since Snufkin had disappeared and Moomintroll’s nerves hadn't calmed in the slightest. He paced anxiously around his bedroom as his brain raced through all of the terrible things that could have happened to him. For all he knew, his best friend was dead in a ditch somewhere!

Little My watched him from her teapot. “He's not gonna come back just because you freaked out all day.”

“It's not like there's anything I can do! Not even Too-Ticky knows what's going on! Besides, aren't you worried about your brother?”

“I am!” she said defensively. “But it's only been a week! Give her time.”

“But what if we don't have time? Little My, what if he's already—”

Little My wouldn't let him finish that thought. “Listen, I know you're worried about your boyfriend and all that, but he wouldn't want you moping around.”

“Snufkin's not my boyfriend.”

“Pfft, he totally is. The way you talk about him is so gay.”

“It is not. He's my best friend. I just respect him.”

“People don't spend days worrying about their best friends like scared housewives”.

“Well, Snufkin and I are just close friends.”

“Yeah, because he's your boyfriend. Duh.”

Moomintroll groaned. This was going nowhere. With a sigh, he headed towards his bedroom window, planning on some good old teenage angsting. That’s when he noticed a stranger walking towards the Moominhouse.

“Hey, Little My?”

“I'm not taking it back, you and Snufkin—”

“No, not that. Just—were we expecting any visitors today?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

“Well, someone's at our door.”

“What do they look like? I can bite their ankles if needed.”

“I don't know. I can only see their red hat.”

“Well, let's go give them a greeting,” said Little My, jumping onto the ground.

“What, why? Little My, what if they're a criminal!”

“Pfft, my pappa is a criminal. They don't scare me! Now, are you coming or not? I think I hear Moominpappa heading to the door already.”

Moomintroll cleared his throat a bit. “Fine, but only because I don't want my pappa getting murdered.”

Little My chuckled as they headed downstairs. “How honorable.”

He could already hear Moominpappa and the stranger talking to each other, a fond familiarity in their voices. They were speaking like they were old friends.

“I'm surprised you came so quickly. I sent my most recent letter only days ago.”

“Aww, come on, babe. It's been ages since we last visited, like I was gonna keep you waiting.”

Moomintroll froze.

Babe?

Why would anyone but Moominmamma call him babe? Why would a man call his pappa babe?

Moominpappa couldn't be gay—He was his pappa! Whoever this person thought they were must just have some bizarre sense of humor! Moominpappa was married to Moominmamma, and that was that. Moominpappa would never cheat on her! He would-

“Earth to Moomintroll,” Little My said quietly. “Are you gonna finish going down the stairs or are you gonna stand there like a booble that just realized he just sat on someone.”

“D-didn't you just hear what that guy called Moominpappa?! W-why would he say that? Doesn't he know he's married to Moominmamma?”

Little My tried her best to contain her laughter. “You aren't serious, are you?”

“Of course I am! Oh, Tove, if mamma finds out!”

She looked at him in awe. “You really don't know, do you?”

“Know what?!”

“Moominmamma is more than aware of Moominpappa’s ‘babe’. From what I know, she's perfectly fine with it.”

“What-”

“Now, if you're just going to keep your jaw hanging open, I’ll go see Joxterpappa myself!”

This was a lot for Moomintroll to process. How could Moominmamma be okay with this?! Wasn't she mad? How could she not be? Pappa couldn't be married to Mamma and dating someone else! 

… Could he?

It didn't make sense! How could he like a guy and still like Mamma? He couldn't like be gay and still love his wife? That went against the definition of being gay!

He heard more voices coming from downstairs. Moominmamma and Little My had joined the conversation.

“It's lovely to have you, Joxter. Would you like some tea?”

“Oh, no, thank you, Moominmamma. I’m much more of a coffee kinda mumrik.”

“Of course, I'll have to remember that.” Her voice was as calm and kind as ever. Was she really okay with this? 

“I bet Moomintroll would like some tea!” Little my said loudly, obviously wanting him to hear. “He must be so thirsty from keeping himself locked in his room all the time!”

“Excellent idea, dear. You three, behave. I'll go give Moomintroll some tea.”

Moomintroll heard his mamma walking up the steps, before she found him sadly sitting on the steps.

“Everything alright, Moomintroll dear? I made you tea,” Moominmamma asked softly, handing him a cup of tea.

Hesitantly, Moomintroll took the cup taking a slow sip from it.

“What's going on, love?”

“A lot.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It's just—Snufkin's been gone for so long and Little My called him my boyfriend. And Joxter called Moominpappa ‘babe’ and it's just too much!”

“Oh, my, that certainly sounds like a lot,” Moominmamma said, sitting next to her son.

“What do I do, Mamma?” Moomintroll said softly.

“Well, those definitely are three difficult problems.”

Moomintroll nodded.

“I know you’re worried about Snufkin, but I promise you, he's safe.”

“H-how do you know?”

“Just used an old trick to check up on him, from Granny's book,” she explained, running her paws through her son’s fur.

“Granny really had the cure for everything, huh?”

“She really did, dear. And don't be scared of the Joxter, dear. He's just as scared for Snufkin as you are. That's why he came here.”

“But Pappa—”

“I know, love. We had intended to have this talk to you about this when you were older, but I see that was a mistake on our part.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, dear, there are more ways to love than just simply one man and one woman,” she began to explain. “I’m sure you’re vaguely aware of the term ‘gay’, yes?”

“Yeah? It's someone who likes the same gender instead of the opposite one, right?”

“That's right, but it's not that black and white for everyone.”

“Huh?”

“You see, some people like both guys and girls.”

Wait, what? That was an option? You could do that?

Moominmamma chuckled at his reaction. “And, you see, that's where your father falls.”

“But…. that doesn't explain—”

“I'm getting there, dear. Some people may also feel romantic attraction to multiple people at once. Pappa and I talked it over, and I decided that I was comfortable with him having another partner.”

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“Doesn't it bug you?”

“Well, I trust him and I know him being with someone else won't mean he loves me any else.”

Moomintroll just rested his head against his mother, thinking to himself, until Moominmamma spoke again.

“I believe you mentioned one other thing bothering you?”

“Oh, uhh, right. Little My calling Snufkin my boyfriend.”

“Yes, why does that get on your nerves?”

“Because he isn't my boyfriend!”

“Yes, dear, I do think Little My was aware of that.”

“Then why would she say it?”

Moominmamma thought for a moment, a soft hum escaping her lips.

“I think Little My just wants you to be honest with yourself.” 

“Honest with myself? What in the world does that mean?”

“I think what she was saying, in her own Little My way, is that it isn't hard to believe that you may be holding in some unrealized feelings towards her brother.”

“Feelings? Towards Snufkin? Geez, Mamma, don't be ridiculous! He's just my best friend! I mean, yeah, he's so talented and adventurous and has really soft looking hair that's just so fluffy and soft and I want to run my paws through it—But I'm not in love with him!”

“You sure about that, dear?”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

“Well, people don't often go on tangents about wanting to run their paws through their best friends hair.”

Moomintroll blushed bright red. “Did I say that out loud?”

“Yes, my love.”

“Oh, Tove, I really do have a crush on Snufkin. What should I do? Mamma, he already got mad at me and Little My for not giving him space! If he learns I like him, he'd hate me!”

“Oh, I wouldn't say that, Moomintroll.”

“What do you mean? Good Tove, I'm saying that a lot today.”

Moominmamma chuckled. “You’re both young. Snufkin is making just as many mistakes, figuring himself out, as you are.”

“Pfft, I highly doubt it.”

“It's true. He may not show it, but he's scared. He didn't want to admit he cared about you, so he ran away.”

“How do we get him back?” Moomintroll asked, sadly finishing off his tea.

“Well, dear, if you'd like to join us downstairs, that's why the Joxter came to visit.”

Moomin nodded. “Okay.”

Holding his mamma’s paw, Moomintroll slowly headed down the steps and prayed that he wasn't still blushing from before.

“Wow, Moominmamma, you actually brought him out. I'm impressed,” Little My teased.

“Moomintroll was confused by a few things, but we've talked everything over and he's feeling much better,” Mamma explained.

“Like that gay people exist.”

“Now, let's not tease him, Little My. Everyone learns things at their own pace.”

“Well, you made excellent timing, Moominmamma,” Moominpappa said. “We were just making a game plan.”

“What is it?” asked Moomintroll with more enthusiasm than he had before.

The Joxter chuckled. “I like your spirit, kid. Alright, so we're going to have to meet with the Hobgoblin.”

Moomintroll looked at him in shock. “The Hobgoblin! How will we even find him?”

The Joxter leaned back. “Honestly, I'm not sure yet. But I'm not giving up on my son. If powerful magic took him away, then powerful magic surely can bring him back.”

Moomintroll smiled. “Alright I’m in.”


	7. Joxterpappa and Son

The Joxter had planned to spend his day lounging around on the deck of the Oshun Oxtra, enjoying a nice long nap in the warm sunlight with not a care in the world.

But his routine was rudely interrupted when Hodgkins pulled him into his office, giving no explanation other than that he had 'something important to tell him’. The Joxter just wanted to sleep!

“This better be important, old man!” the Joxter grumbled. “I'm missing some high quality sleep right now.”

“It is very important, Joxter! It's about the invisible boy that's been staying with us.”

The Joxter looked at him confused. “What the hell does that have to do with me?”

“I have reason to believe he may be your son.”

He looked at Hodgkins, dumbfounded. “You sure about that, my dude? The kid is a teenager, right? and I’m, uhh, barely twenty. Him being my son isn't possible.”

Hodgkins nodded. “That's what I thought, too, but that doesn't explain why he referred to his sisters and his Joxterpappa.”

Joxter could feel his knees go wobbly, but forced himself to stay standing up.

“Well, I’m sure I'm not the only person in the world named Joxter.”

“That definitely is true, but there are many other things that add up to him somehow being your son.”

“Like what?”

“Remember his reaction to you when he first arrived at the ship?”

“He freaked out. What about it?”

“Could it be because he recognized you and was caught off guard? It definitely adds up with him saying, ‘Or they'll be all wrong, like Joxterpappa’.”

“Even if he somehow, magically, was my son, what the hell is he doing here?”

Hodgkins sighed. “Honestly, I don't know. But if you could, would you try and talk to him?”

Hesitantly, the Joxter got up. “I can try, but I can't promise I'll have any luck.”

Slowly, Joxter headed towards the room of the invisible child. He could hear crying from the other side of the door. Should he really be doing this? He didn't want to make things worse for the kid. After a solid minute of thinking, he knocked on the door.

“Leave me alone,” the boy said between sobs.

“Oh, geez, uhh, sorry. Hodgkins told me to come visit you and I, uhh—”

Joxter could hear the boy go quiet, clearing thinking to himself.

“Don't worry about it, okay? I'm nothing worth worrying about.”

The Joxter sat down and leaned against the door. “Listen, I don't really understand this whole thing of you being my son, but nobody is worthless, kiddio.”

“I am. I abandoned my mamma, my pappa, all my sisters, and even Moomintroll. I hurt them! I-I don't deserve people caring about me. I'll just end up abandoning them.”

“Do you want to go back to your family?”

The boy went silent again. Slowly the door started to creak open, forcing the Joxter to quickly move away from the door and give it room to open.

What greeted him on the other side of the door was a young man, shaking with fear. He had become much more visible. The Joxter was able to make out brown paws and a tail. He could see almost all of him—all except for his head. Before the Joxter could properly process the appearance of the young mumrik before him, the crying boy wrapped his arms around him.

“P-Pappa! I-I'm so sorry. I-I shouldn't have run away and-and I-I miss you, and—”

“Shhh, shhh. Hey, kiddo, deep breaths. I can't understand you with you constantly interrupting yourself.”

“S-sorry.”

“Shhh, it's, uhh, it’s going to be okay, uhh, kiddo. Tove, I'm sorry I really am not sure how to go about this whole, uhhh, being a father thing.”

The boy didn't say anything, just crying into the crook of his neck. The Joxter tried his best to hold him, but he admittedly felt quite awkward doing so. 

Was Hodgkins right? Was this kid really his son? It was definitely weird to think about. He had always wanted a family of his own, deep down. He loved kids, even though most people thought otherwise. But he never thought he'd actually get the chance. 

Who would want their children around someone being constantly chased around by the cops?

“P-Pappa?” the boy said shakily.

“Yeah?”

“Can you call me kitten?”

“Huh?”

“I just- Please call me kitten, pappa.”

The Joxter cleared his throat awkwardly. “Oh, uhh. Okay, kitten.”

“Thanks,” the boy said softly nuzzling himself into The Joxter’s arms.

He wasn't sure how long the two of them sat there. The Joxter admittedly lost track of time. But it was nice. He didn't know this morning that he had a son, even if he technically hadn't been born yet, but good Tove, if it didn't take long for him to fall in love with the kid.

The boy would just talk to him, venting out his feelings and the Joxter tired his best to listen. He learned a lot about his son. That his name was Snufkin, that he was best friends with Moomin’s son, and that there was quite a bit of repressed gay feelings coming from his son's end. Snufkin, deep down, was just a scared kid.

He told him about his life. How he had thirty siblings (Tove, help his future self.) and how he never really felt like he had any time to himself because of it. He had started exploring the woods outside their home just to have some time himself. His pappa, the Joxter himself, had tried his best to let his boy have his alone time, but he still was a father and he worried about him being in the forest all alone.

He and Snufkin had gotten into a fight.

Snufkin was an angsty kid, prepared to challenge anything his parents said. Turning his pappa's worries into him not allowing his son to enjoy himself. And after an especially bad fight, Snufkin ran away.

“I-I-I'm sorry, pappa, you probably h-hate me and-”

The Joxter cut him off. “Shhh, shhh, kitten. It's okay. I promise, I couldn't hate you.”

“B-But you barely know me, and you weren't there!”

“That's true, but I know myself, and I'm sure he'd love to see you no matter how long it's been.”

“P-Promise?”

“I promise, kitten. I'll make sure your pappa sees you again.”


	8. Proper Introductions

Moomin knew something was up when Joxter ran onto the deck at full speed, holding onto the invisible child. That was definitely a cause for some concern. 

“Joxter, what in Tove’s name are you doing?”

“Look at my son!” the Joxter said proudly.

“He's not your son, Joxter. In order for that to be the case, you'd have to have him at, like, five! Now let the poor kid go. You’re most definitely scaring him. And take a nap.”

“Oh, no, he really is my father, Moominpa- Moomin.”

“Good, Tove. You’ve gotten him to play along with your accursed prank.”

The boy chuckled with the slightest tinge of awkwardness. “It's a bit more complicated than that.”

“Oh, please inform me.”

“I'm Joxter’s son from the future! I touched a crystal I found and got sent to the past!”

“Now I know you're messing with me.”

“Not at all, Moominpappa!” he said, pulling his shirt down slightly to reveal a crystal lodged in his chest. A perfect diamond shape, bright blue in color, was stuck in the young mumrik’s chest.

“Well, would you look at that. That definitely is, uhhhh, a crystal.” 

“It got stuck there when I was sent to the past.”

“I see. Then why are you invisible?” Moomin asked, still in disbelief and thinking this was some kind of prank.

“Oh… Well…”

The Joxter stepped in front of his son defensively. “Hey, that's personal information that he doesn't have to tell you if he doesn't want to!”

“My, my, Joxter,” said Moomin sarcastically, “the speed that you took to being a father is astonishing.”

The Joxter blushed. “Oh, well, uhh, you see—”

“He really is my pappa! I-I even lived with you in the future, Moominpappa!”

Moomin tilted his head at him curiously. “Moominpappa?”

“Oh, well, your son is also a Moomin, so we call him Moomintroll and you Moominpappa to keep things simple.”

“My son?”

Even if Moomin couldn't see his face, he could tell the boy lit up with excitement. He eagerly brought his hands to his chest as his tail began wagging eagerly. Clearly, whoever his son was, he meant a lot to this boy.

“He's my best friend!” the boy said practically jumping with excitement. “He waits for me when he wakes up every spring and we go fishing together and explore the valley and—”

Moomin cleared his throat. “Yes, it, uhh, definitely seems like you two are close.”

He nodded excitedly. “Yup.”

“And you also lived with me?”

“Technically, I live in a tent on my own, but Moominmamma and you take care of all of us. She even sewed that tunic of mine you found me in!”

“What do you mean, ‘all of us’?”

“Oh, there's a lot of us that Mamma takes care of! There’s me, Moomintroll, Muddler’s son Sniff, Snorkmaiden, my sister Little My—”

“That definitely sounds overwhelming.” 

“Not as bad as my thirty sisters,” he said casually.

“Now I know you're lying. The Joxter couldn't handle thirty kids.”

He shrugged. “He never seemed to mind. Anyway, that's not important! I-I really messed up! And I have to go home! I miss my family!”

“Your moomin family, or Joxter and your sisters?”

“Both of them!” the boy said sadly. “I shouldn't have fought with Little My and Joxterpappa and I shouldn't have pushed Moomin away and—” he started crying. Within moments, the Joxter came to his rescue, wrapping the boy he claimed was his son into a hug. 

“Shh, Snufkin. It’ll be okay, kitten, I promise.”

Moomin watched this display from a distance. Was it really true? Could this boy really be the son of Joxter? Moomin had never really seen his dear friend as the fatherly type. But, on the other hand, the kid was crying into his neck as the Joxter held him.

Like a father and son.

“Well, umm, do you have any kind of idea how you could get home?” Moomin asked, trying his best to sound respectful and mature like a dignified moomin.

Snufkin sniffed slightly as he wiped his eyes, shakily pulling from his father's embrace.

“I-I don't know, I-I have this stupid crystal stuck in my chest.”

Moomin looked at his chest curiously. The boy awkwardly pulled his shirt down slightly, revealing a bright blue crystal. This was his chance to show off just how much of a natural adventurer he was! He'd impress the Joxter with his incredible skills!

Without warning, Moomin tried to pull the crystal out of Snufkin's chest. 

Snufkin shouted at the sudden pain. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Moomin looked at him like it was obvious. “Uh, removing the crystal?”

“Removing the- oh, my Tove, knock it off, will you? It's infused in my skin. Trying to remove it like that freaking hurts!”

Moomin nodded like he knew what the word infused meant.

A loud banging could be heard as the Muddler jumped, or rather fell, out of his can while trying to run over to the main area of the dock with an awkward little scuttle.

“I-is everyone okay? I,uhh, heard yelling.”

“Moomin tried to rip my son's chest open!” the Joxter yelled.

“Ohh, my, uhh, that's definitely not good,” said the Muddler. “I didn't know you had a son, joxter.”

“He's invisible and from the future.”

“O-oh, of course.”

Snufkin walked up to the Muddler, offering his paw. The Muddler looked at it for a second, a bit freaked out that the boy was missing his head, but eventually shook it, although slightly awkwardly.

“My name is Snufki,” he introduced himself. “Sorry I scared you earlier. Moomin was being an impulsive idiot.”

Moomin took offense to this. He didn't know what impulsive meant but he was definitely not an idiot!

“Oh, well, uhh, nice to meet you, Snufkin!” said the Muddler with a shy smile.

Moomin sighed. “Listen, I was just trying to help you out. I thought, maybe if I removed the crystal, you'd be able to go home.”

“No, I don't think it'll be that easy. In order to get this piece of junk out, we're going to need some magic.”

The Joxter looked at him curiously, quite fitting for his cat-like personality.

“Magic?”

Snufkin nodded, or Moomin assumed he did—it was quite hard to tell when he couldn't see his face.

“Magic brought me here, so it must be magic that will take me back.”

The Muddler looked deep in thought. He awkwardly fiddled his thumbs before speaking up.

“Well, umm, I know my pappa wrote a poem about a wizard once, before he, umm-”

“‘Life often imitates art,’ as they say,” said Snufkin.

The Muddler smiled. “Really?”

“Of course! I should know after years of writing spring tunes! Reality and art are quite closely linked together!”

“Well, it's, um, been a while since my pappa was able to read it to me. It was about this small and scrappy wizard that lived in an old shack by himself on the north most island man has visited,” explained the Muddler, obviously trying to hide his excitement to talk about his father.

“Well, then. Moomin, you go tell Hodgkins to sail north!” Snufkin said confidently.

“Wait!” interrupted the Muddler. “The poem—it said the wizard could be, uhh, quite unpredictable.”

Snufkin tutted. “Muddler, please. I was raised by the Joxter. I can handle a bit of unpredictability.”

And, just like that, they had made up their minds. They would go looking for the wizard.


	9. The Journey to The Hobgoblin

A small party of people ended up going on the trip to see the Hobgoblin.

The Joxter ended up taking the lead, which caught Moomintroll mildly off guard. When Pappa had read out his memoirs, he was described as a lazy mumrik who only really did things that he thought were useful or that he was told not to. However, this Joxter who Moomintroll saw in front of him was a father ready to do anything for his son.

Moomintroll came as well, of course—he had just realized he had feelings for Snufkin! He had to show him he was someone who would care for him! He wouldn't let Snufkin down! He didn't want him to feel like he had to run away again.

Proving her role as Snufkin’s protective older sister, Little My demanded to go on the trip to save her brother. The Joxter, saying he “didn't want his favorite to burn out,” let her come along, much to Moomintroll’s dismay.

And, last but not least to join, was Too-Ticky. She was the only one who actually knew where the Hobgoblin stayed, after all. Without her, they'd just be wandering aimlessly for Tove knows how long, plus she could play the much needed role of babysitter for the group.

It took several days to find a way to meet with him. He did spend most of his time in space, after all. They didn't exactly have a rocketship on them or the King’s Ruby, so they were forced to travel to lands far more magical in nature than their simple moominvalley to find someone who could contact him.

Moomintroll started to understand Snufkin’s love for travel. He saw wonders he could barely believe! Mushrooms bigger than him, a purple fox-like creature with six legs, flowers with every color of the rainbow. It was all so miraculous.

Moomintroll hadn't expected it, but he felt his heart ache at every path they didn't travel. Every unexplored mystery. He wanted to explore every nook and cranny.

He wanted to explore it all with Snufkin.

Oh, he missed his dear mumrik friend so terribly. His heart hurt just thinking about all the worrisome things he was going through. He cared about Snufkin more than anything in the world. And Moomintroll would do anything to make sure he got to see him again.

One night, they set up camp next to a lake. The sight was beautiful. The way the moon reflected off the water, the soft and relaxing glow of fireflies calmly moving around, the silhouette of fish swimming through the water… 

Snufkin would have loved it here.

“You got it bad, don't ya?”

Moomintroll yelped slightly at the sudden noise. He turned his head to see Too-Ticky sitting a couple feet away from him, casting her fishing line into the water.

“Oh, uhh, sorry. I didn't see you there,” Moomintroll said, trying to brush off his panicked reaction.

Too-Ticky chuckled. “I could tell. Daydreaming ‘bout Snufkin, weren't ya?”

Moomintroll felt his face burn up as he started to blush. “Oh, Tove, was it really that obvious?”

“You're acting like a touch-starved housewife. And I thought I was a helpless gay.”

“I just really miss him, and I'm so worried about him, and-”

“I know, I know. We can all tell you're in love! But ya can't just obsess over someone. It's not healthy. Snufkin would tell you the same.”

“I'm not obsessed over Snufkin!” Moomintroll said defensively. “I'm just worried about him!”

“We're all worried about Snufkin! But you've hardly spoken since we started travelin’.”

“But-”

“No buts about it, young Moomintroll!” Too-Ticky said sternly. “You're gonna make yourself miserable, worrying yourself sick like this!”

“But what else can I do?”

Too-Ticky handed him her fishing rod. “Yee know how to fish?”

“Well, Moominpappa tried to teach me once, but his ego kind of, you know, got in the way.”

Too-Ticky laughed. “How about a lesson to take your mind off things?”

Too-Ticky and the others really were really quite sweet to Moomintroll. They tried to keep things light hearted during the journey. After Too-Ticky taught him how to fish, she must have talked to the others in private because they seemed to interact with Moomintroll more.

The Joxter, apparently just as musically talented as his son, would play melodies on his guitar (which he kept in a backpack that was similar to Mamma’s handbag, in that it could hold things far bigger than the backpack itself).

Little My, on the other hand, tried to “lighten the mood with jokes.” Moomintroll would appreciate it if her humor wasn't usually abnormally dark or at his expense, but at least she was trying.

And finally, after two weeks of traveling and missing Snufkin more than he probably should, they arrived at where they believed to be the Hobgoblin’s hut.

It was far larger than anything Moomintroll had ever seen before. Just the doorway alone was four times his size. The building absolutely towered over him. It was most definitely big enough for a hobgoblin.

The four of them, somewhat hesitantly, walked inside the home, all feeling quite tiny compared to the oversized furniture.

“This isn't fair!” Little My complained. “Even the teapot is bigger than me!”

“For what it's worth, Little My, it's bigger than me, too,” said the Joxter.

“I'm going to need all of yee to look around, aight? There should be a crystal that summons him,” Too-Ticky explained. With a nod, the four of them split up.

Moomintroll tried his best to look around when everything was so oversized and hard to see. Awkwardly, Moomintroll stumbled his way around the house, occasionally tripping on the humongous wooden planks, when he struck gold.

After tripping for the third time on the Hobgoblin’s poor choice of flooring, he found himself landing in a room that was almost completely empty aside from a large blue crystal. It was almost the size of the Moomin house, sticking out the floor breaking through the ceiling.

Without even thinking, Moomintroll touched the crystal. Luckily for him, this crystal didn't white out his vision and send him back in time. In fact, Moomintroll didn't even consider that a possibility. That wasn't a cause for concern in the slightest.

Instead, when Moomintroll touched the crystal, he saw the Hobgoblin teleport into the room midair and promptly fall on his butt.

As it would for most people, the loud crash of the Hobgoblin’s behind caught the attention of the others, who all quickly ran into the room.

Little My took all of two seconds to laugh at him.

“Ahh, curse you, terrible child,” the Hobgoblin groaned. “I was busy, did you really just summon me to laugh at me for your own amusement?”

Moomintroll cleared his throat .“I’m sorry Mr. Hobgoblin. I didn't mean to make you fall. We really need your help!”

“Listen, kid, I'm sure you traveled a long way, but I don't do magic for free. You’re going to have to find someone else to make you rich or whatever it is you want.”

The Joxter walked up to the Hobgoblin quite confidently, clearly not scared of what kind of magic he could do to him.

“Listen here, Mr. Hobgoblin. I know you're full of all kinds of magic pizzazz, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be rude. So, listen here, what you're going to do is help me get my kitten back or, so help me, I'm going to shove my guitar so far up-”

Too-Ticky cut him off. “Maybe turn it down a few notches there, Joxter.”

“I don't bring people back from the dead,” the Hobgoblin said. his voice monotone.

“Oh. uhh. we know that, Mr. Hobgoblin. Snufkin isn't dead. He's just missing,” Moomintroll explained.

“Missing?”

Too-Ticky nodded, “We found his belongings next to a bunch of magical crystals similar to your own and we haven't seen him since.”

“He set off one of the crystals?” asked the Hobgoblin, suddenly concerned.

“Yup,” said Little My. “I told him what an idiot he was for ignoring Moomintroll, then he ran off into the forest and disappeared.”

The Hobgoblin cursed under his breath. “Tove, it's just what I feared!”

“What?”

“These crystals,” he pointed to the one in the room, “have control of time and space,” he began to explain.

“If used incorrectly, it could completely destroy the timeline.”

“Is Snufkin using it correctly?” Moomintroll asked.

“He didn't know what he did.”

“So that's bad?”

“Very much so.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“We'll need to contact him,” he explained, summoning a small magic orb and pointing it at Moomintroll, who looked quite confused.

“Say something.”

“Umm, uhh, Snufkin, are you there?”

In response, they heard a loud, crashing followed by a very awkward, “Oooh, yeah. Everything is great,” come from Snufkin’s voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moomin: disembodied voice  
> Snufkin: girly scream


	10. The Wizard

Snufkin was on a journey to find a wizard of his own. He was going to the wizard of the north spoken of in the poem written by Muddler’s father.

It only took a week or two for Snufkin to get restless. He felt utterly trapped on this boat. There wasn't anything to explore! There was just water! And after one had traveled as long as Snufkin had, the vast open sea simply started to look boring to them. Everywhere he looked was blue. There was nothing new to explore or discover! Everything was just blue!

Mildly annoyed with his surroundings, Snufkin leaned over the side of the ship with a tired sigh. Would this wizard even work? Did he even exist or where they on a wild goose chase? Would he ever be able to get home again? Questions like this raced through his mind.

He tried his best not to give up hope, but in situations where one has nothing to do, it was quite easy to get overwhelmed by one's own thoughts.

The Joxter walked up to him, resting his arms on the edge of the ship as his tail wagged contently. He didn't seem quite as bothered by all this as Snufkin was. He looked at peace here.

“I don't get it!” Snufkin said. “Aren't you going crazy here? Wouldn't you much rather be out exploring?”

His father shrugged. “Not really. Exploration takes so much energy, so it’s not really my thing. Why use all that time packing for a trip when I could be taking a nap in the sunlight? Nothing wrong with you liking it. I just couldn't bear it myself.”

Snufkin sighed. “I’m, admittedly, just going a bit stir crazy here. Moominpappa made the Oshun Oxtra sound a lot more exciting in his memoirs.”

The Joxter burst out laughing. “He wrote memoirs about this?”

Snufkin nodded. “He’d read it out to us every time he completed a chapter.”

“That sounds exactly like the kind of over the top thing he'd do. ‘Listen up, children, I’m going to tell you about the time Muddler tossed our kettle overboard.’”

Snufkin chuckled. “Yeah, that's basically what happens. But, as corny as it is, I kinda miss it.”

The Joxter put an arm around him. “Oh, no. My poor kitten’s homesick.”

Snufkin responded with a classic groan filled to the brim with teen angst, which was so rudely interrupted by a new voice joining the scene.

“Well, you shouldn't worry about being stir crazy for too much longer,” said Hodgkins. “Muddler says he sees land on the horizon.”

Joxter nodded. “Let’s just hope we’re north enough.” 

“We better be,” complained Moomin. “We haven't seen land in days!”

Snufkin sighed. “I just hope this wizard is as good as Muddler’s father said in his poems. I wanna go home.”

The Joxter pulled him into a warm and tender hug. “We’ll get you home, I promise.”

Once they reached shore, they dropped the anchor and carefully jumped out of the ship—except for the Muddler, who was quite scared and had to be caught by Hodgkins.

“So, where is this wizard, exactly?” asked Moomin.

“Umm, well, we’re on what should be the north most island,” said the Muddler, “so we should, uhh, look for the hut he, uhh, lives in. At least, the poem says he lives in a hut. Uhh, it could be wrong, but you know-”

“Alright, let's split up and look for this hut,” Snufkin interrupted. “This island is small, so yell out to the others if you find it and we should be able to hear you.”

And, just like that, the five of them each went in different directions.

This island was exactly the kind of fresh and new Snufkin had needed in his life. He really had to force himself not to get lost in every little detail of the beautiful tropical island. It was all just so colorful and pretty.

But he had to focus. He had to make sure he was able to get home.

Pushing a large jungle leaf out of the way, he was surprised to find a strange hut inches away from his face. But before he could call out to the others he was aggressively yanked inside.

“You're a long way from home, young mumrik. What is a pretty little thing like you doing here?” asked an unseen voice that made Snufkin’s skin crawl.

“Wh-who are you?” Snufkin asked, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice.

A short creature, only really coming up to Snufkin's waist, came towards him out of the darkness. His hair was scraggy mess, a muddy grey in color. His mouth forced up into an unnerving almost unnatural smile. His clothing was ragged and far too big for his small and skinny body.

“Oh, I'm nobody special, just a lonely old warlock.”

“So, you’re the wizard, right?”

“I guess that's one thing to call me, yes.”

“Well, let me get my companions then,” said Snufkin. “We need your help.” He got ready to turn and leave to get his father as he didn't really want to be alone with this guy when he felt an arm harshly grab his wrist.

“Why waste your time getting them? Time is precious, don't you know?”

“But-”

“No, no, no—I insist.” His crooked smile growing wider. “Let me fix you.”

‘What in Tove’s name do you think you’re going to do to me?” Snufkin snapped, trying to yank his arm free.

“You’re head’s invisible! But worry not, my friend! I know what will make you feel good as new.” The wizard snapped his fingers and the room filled with smoke. When it cleared, Snufkin found himself in the ugliest “fancy suit” he had ever seen.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?” Snufkin yelled out, forcing himself from the wizard.

The wizard continued to smile. “Why are you so mad? I made you visible again.”

Snufkin had enough of this guy. He was furious. He just wanted to go home, not deal with any of this crap!

He heard his father run up to the hut, a panic in his footsteps as he forced the door open.

“SNUFKIN, WHAT'S GOING ON? WHO-” He noticed the current state of his son. “... Okay. two questions. Firstly, what on earth are you wearing? And two, how did you become visible?”

Snufkin pointed his head at the wizard. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Quickly, Joxter ran over to check over his son. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Do you want me to kill him?”

“I’m fine, Pappa. I promise,” Snufkin said, heading to the door. “Don’t waste your time on this loser.”

Snufkin rounded up Hodgkins, Muddler, and Moomin to get their butts off this island, but they were forced to wait on Joxter.

“What’s taking him so long?” Moomin complained. “He better not be doing anything stupid.”

Snufkin sighed. “Listen, I get that you’re gay for my father and all that, but I just hope he isn't killing that cursed wizard.”

Muddler looked at Snufkin, worried. “Joxter wouldn't do that, right?”

Snufkin chuckled. “Have you met my father?”

Hodgkins tried changing the topic. “Well, Snufkin, I promise you once we’re inside I’ll give you a change of clothes. Something less garish.”

“Thanks,” Snufkin said with a soft smile.

And then, the Joxter came finally running full speed at the group.

“On the boat! On the boat, NOW!” he said panicked, already starting to climb on board.

Moomin looked at him, concerned. “What did you do?”

The Joxter pulled Snufkin and Moomin onto the boat. “I'll tell you when I don’t have an angry wizard chasing after me!”

“You really did try to kill him, didn’t you?’

He looked at Moomin, shocked. “What—No, I’d never do that.”

“Oh, thank Tove.”

“I just stole his spellbook.”

“Are you kidding me, Joxter, I-”

Hodgkins jumped on board, holding onto Muddler. “I’ll have a talk with Joxter later. For now, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Once they were a safe distance away, Hodgkins handed Snufkin a spare set of clothes to change into. They were a similar set, made up of a button up and dress pants, to the clothes he had worn before. It seems that creepy wizard hadn’t been able to remove the crystal in his chest, if he even knew it was there. Snufkin had his pants on and his shirt halfway buttoned up when something odd happened.

He heard Moomintroll’s voice although he couldn't identify from where. “Umm, uhh, Snufkin? Are you there?”

Snufkin was caught off guard and fell backwards into a bookcase with a load crash, which most definitely was not how he wanted to reunite with Moomintroll. He had to blow it off, keep up his cool persona.

“Ohhh, yeah. Everything is great.”

Tove, he was an idiot. How did Moomintroll look up to him?

“Snufkin, it really is you!” Moomintroll said excitedly. “Do you know where you are?’ 

He chuckled. “I’m not sure you'd believe me if I told you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know your father's memoirs?”

“Yeah?”

“Well I'm currently on the Oshun Oxtra.”

He heard his father's voice. “I don't remember that happening.”

Moomintroll sighed. “Well, don't worry! We're going to save you.”

Snufkin smiled wide. He was going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun facts about this chapter 
> 
> 1\. the wizard character was based off a dream my friend Wonder had about this fic  
> 2\. the wizard magic wasn't what made snufkin visible rather it was snufkin standing up to him that did  
> 3\. my editor started screaming in a discord server about snufkin saying a bad word   
> Lex, hell is not a bad word


	11. Happy Reunion

“Do you really mean it? I can come home?” Snufkin said, not even bothering to hide his excitement. He has simply missed Moomintroll so much! He could practically jump into his arms!

“R-really?” said Moomintroll, his voice slightly shaky. “Like, promise you aren't just saying that to get out of here? You won't run away again?”

For a moment, there was awkward silence.

“Moomintroll, listen,” Snufkin said softly, his voice shaky and vulnerable. “And whoever else is there… I-I'm sorry! I was just so dumb and-” The young mumrik felt hot tears pour down his cheeks, as he slowly began to sob.

He heard his Pappa's voice. “Snufkin… Kitten, can you listen to me?”

“P-Pappa, why did you come? I-I thought you hated me!”

Snufkin could hear his pappa's heart break. “Snufkin, I- Oh, kiddio, I could never-” He heard the sound of his father crying. Oh, great. Now they were both crying.

“I-I'm sorry, I never came back. I-I shouldn't have left- Oh, pappa, I'm so sorry. Moomintroll, too. I was so dumb and-”

“-Snufkin” Joxter interrupted, “You're not dumb.”

“But-”

“Please don't cry. I’m gonna make sure everything is okay. I'll make sure you get home.”

“I-I love you, Pappa.”

“I love you, too, kitten.”

The Hobgoblin spoke up. “As much as I would hate to interrupt, I would like to set up this portal. I want to get back to what I was doing as soon as possible.”

“C-can I say goodbye first?”

He sighed. “Alright, I'll give you three minutes before the portal opens.”

Quickly, Snufkin ran onto the deck, making a beeline for the Joxter and catching him off guard as he jumped into his arms for a hug.

“Oof—oh, uhh, hey there, Snuf. Everything okay?”

“I have to go!”

“Huh, kiddio, what are you talking about?”

“M-Moomintroll found a way to take me home and I have to go!”

“You're leaving? Already? Geez, was that trip to the wizard for nothing?”

Snufkin chuckled. “Well, him chasing you was pretty funny.”

Joxter held onto his son. “Yea, I suppose it was. I'm going to miss you, kitten, although I'm sure there are people that want you back.”

“I just- I wanted to say goodbye. To you and everyone else. for being so kind to me.”

Moomin walked over to the two mumriks. “Is everything okay?”

“Snufkin is going home. Go get Hodgkins and Muddler as quick as you can.”

Moomin nodded and ran to Hodgkins's room.

Joxter smiled. “I can't wait to meet you.”

And with that, a strange hole appeared next to Snufkin. Through it, he saw familiar faces. 

The first person he noticed was Moomintroll. He looked like a total mess. He had circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept in weeks. His fur was a tangled, matted mess. Although, when they locked eyes, Snufkin could see his face light up.

His pappa, the Joxter, stood behind Moomintroll. His eyes were slightly wet. Currently, he was staring at his alternate self with quite a lot of confusion.

“Oh, Tove. You really did get yourself in a mess, didn't you, kitten?”

Little My climbed up on top of Joxter’s shoulder to be seen. “Of course he is, he's one of us, isn't he?” she said with her loud cackle of a laugh.

Too-Ticky stood with them and looked as if she had something to say but was interrupted by Moomin, Muddler, and Hodgkins running onto the scene.

“We're not too late, are we?” asked the Muddler. “Has Snufkin left yet?”

Snufkin chuckled. “Just made it.”

Moomin nodded. “Good, I wanted to make sure I was here to send you off.”

Moomintroll’s face lit up. “Wow it really is true! You got to be part of Moominpappa’s memoirs!”

“You would have thought the two Joxters would have given that away,” teased Little My.

Moomin cleared his throat ,looking at Moomintroll. “Wait, is this, uhh, my son you mentioned?”

Moomintroll waved at him excitedly. “Hi, Pappa!!!!”

Moomin nodded awkwardly. “Ahh, yes, hello there, um, son of mine. You are, uhh, a fine young man.”

Joxter laughed at him, patting him on the back. “Dude, just hug your son already.”

Moomin looked at him nervously. “Can I do that?”

“I mean, Snufkin and I haven't had any problems.”

Moomin nodded. “R-right,” he said before confidently walking to the portal where Moomintroll was excitedly poking out of.

“Hi, Pappa!!!”

The two moomins had a good old father-son hug.

Little My laughed. “Good to know Moominpappa has always been a dweeb.”

Moomin was about to stand up for himself, before the Muddler spoke up. “Umm, excuse me, Mr. uhh… older Joxter?”

The older Joxter raised his eyebrow. “Hmm?”

“Do I, uhhh, have a son?”

He nodded. “Yes, his name is Sniff, but he isn't really relevant to this story.”

Moomintroll gasped. “Sniff is Muddler’s son!”

Snufkin looked at him, dumbfounded. “You didn't know that?”

“Pappa never brought it up in his memoirs!”

“Yes, he did!”

“No, he didn't!”

“Yes, he totally did! His introduction to the Muddler was that he was the father of his son's friend Sniff!”

The younger Joxter laughed. “Well, if I do say so myself, my older self is most definitely sexy as hell.”

The older Joxter winked. “You know it, baby.”

Hodgkins hid his face in his hands while Moomin looked like he was going to kill the two Joxters.

Snufkin went to face the Oshun Oxtra crew one last time and pulled the four of them into a hug.

“Thank you so much for being so kind to me. I'll miss you.”

Hodgkins smiled. “I'll miss you, too, kiddo. Make sure to stick with your family this time.”

Snufkin giggled. “Will do.” He turned to face Moomintroll and the others at the portal. Moomintroll offered Snufkin his paw through the portal.

And, without hesitation, Snufkin took it as the portal closed behind him.

The Hobgoblin sighed. “Thank Tove, that's over. It'll be a real pain in my butt making sure this whole fiasco doesn't mess up the timeline.”

Snufkin looked down. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It's fine. Just be more careful next time! Now, if I’m correct, you have a crystal in your chest?”

Snufkin nodded.

“Alright, let me take care of that.” He snapped his fingers and poof! The crystal was in his fingers.

Joxter smiled. “Thank you, Hobgoblin.”

“Right, right. Of course.”

The Joxter ruffled his son’s hair. “Alright, let's get you back to Moominvalley.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's kinda bittersweet to think there's only one chapter left although i'm planning on doing a spinoff for this fic about joxter and moominpappa once this is finished so keep an eye open for that


	12. Epilogue

Moomintroll absolutely talked Snufkin's ears off as they headed back to Moominvalley. But honestly? Snufkin didn't care in the slightest. It was refreshing to have Moomintroll tell him about his adventures instead of the other way around for once. Although he'd absolutely tell Moomintroll about his time on the Oshun Oxtra later, but for now he let him talk.

“-So then, there were like these one-eyed purple fox things! And they had six legs!” Moomintroll explained enthusiastically.

Snufkin smiled. “That definitely sounds incredible. If only I was there to see it myself.” Tove, Snufkin had missed this more than he had realized. How could he have ever wanted to escape this?

To abandon Moomintroll?

“Well, I mean, we could go back again? If that's okay with you?”

Snufkin looked at him, confused. “What do you mean by that?”

Moomintroll blushed slightly. “Well, I know that you prefer to travel alone during the winter. But geez, Snufkin, it's almost fall and we haven't hung out all year!”

“Moomintroll.”

“No! Snufkin, listen to me! I care about you and I missed you, dang it! First, you were hiding in your tent all the time. And then you went missing and it took weeks to find you, and-”

Snufkin grabbed Moomintroll’s paw

“Moomintroll,” Snufkin said calmly as he softly held Moomintroll’s paw, causing the young moomin’s cheeks to darken red.

“Y-yes, Snufkin?”

Snufkin smiled. “I’d love to travel with you this winter.”

“R-really? You mean it? You'd let me travel with you this year?” Moomintroll looked up at him excitedly.

He nodded. “I’ve missed you, too, Moomintroll. Tove, I'm so sorry I made you deal with all this.”

Moomintroll pulled him into a tight hug. “Oh, Snufkin!” It most definitely caught Snufkin off guard. Embarrassingly, Snufkin started purring.

He couldn't help it! He had just missed Moomintroll so much! And his fur was just so warm and fluffy! It just slipped out!

Joxter chuckled. “Aww, my little boy’s in love.” Little My sat on her father's shoulder and made kissing noises.

Best family in the world.

Too-Ticky rolled her eyes at the two of them. “Yee need to let them take things at their own time.”

Little My groaned. “The two of them ‘taking things at their own pace' is them dancing around their feelings for four years!”

The two boys quickly pulled away from each other, trying to hide the fact they were now both flustered messes. Snufkin immediately missed the warmth of Moomintroll’s fur.

“Listen, it's not like that!”

Everyone gave the two boys a look.

“It's the truth!”

“See what I mean?” said Little My.

Too-Ticky walked up to the boys. “Listen, I'm not going to force yee into anythin’, but I think you should be honest with each other, eh? Talk about your feelings and all that. I can get those two losers out of here.”

“I'm not a loser!” defended Little My.

“Right, right, of course,” said Too-Ticky, pushing Joxter and Little My away.

Snufkin chuckled. “Geez, I'm sorry about them.”

“Not planning on running away from your terrible annoying family?” Moomintroll teased.

Snufkin put his hand on his chin. “Hmm, it’s a hard choice, but probably not.”

Both boys broke out giggling. 

Things were quiet for a moment before, awkwardly, Snufkin reached for Moomintroll’s paw again and held it tenderly in his own. His tail wagged gently with a slight nervousness.

Snufkin turned his head away from Moomintroll, though. Partly so Moomintroll couldn't see him blush, and partly so, if Moomintroll wasn't blushing, he wouldn't know.

“So, umm, Too-Ticky wants us to talk,” Snufkin began.

“So it seems.”

He fiddled with Moomintroll’s paw anxiously. “Listen, I know you don't feel the same way, but-”

Moomintroll lifted his free paw to turn Snufkin's face towards him.

“Snufkin, what do you mean?”

Snufkin was a shaking mess, He looked at Moomintroll, desperately trying not to cry as he felt his soft paw continue to hold onto his face. Could he really confess how he feels? Would Moomintroll hate him?

“M-Moomintroll.”

“Yes, Snufkin?”

“I-I know y-you don't feel the same way, b-but- I l-like you like a l-lot and-”

Moomintroll shut him up with a kiss to the nose, turning the young mumrik red as a tomato.

Snufkin desperately tried to stutter something out. “G-g-guess I was wrong.”

Moomintroll laughed awkwardly. “Honestly, I thought you didn't like me back.”

“What? How could I not like you? You’re just so sweet and fluffy and I just—AAAA!”

“How could I not like you? You are so cool, adventurous, and independent!”

“I guess we were both pretty silly then.” Snufkin chuckled.

Moomin squeezed his hand. “Yeah, I guess we were.”

“You'd think, after a couple months with four dads, I would have more confidence.”

Moomintroll chuckled. “Apparently not.”

“So, umm, Moomintroll,” he looked down at their holding hands, “are we- I mean, would you like to be…” He trailed off.

Moomintroll nodded. “Yeah.”

Snufkin was just absolutely grinning like an idiot. “R-really?”

“Yes, really, Snufkin. Tove, how many times do I have to repeat myself?”

“Sorry, sorry- it's just-” Snufkin hugged him burying his face into Moomin’s fur, “you mean a lot to me.”

“Right back at you, Snufkin.”

They stayed like that for a while. He wasn't sure exactly how much time passed. He only pulled away when he heard Little My’s voice.

“See, Too-Ticky? They're super gay.”

“I knew that. I just wanted ‘em to accept it on their own terms!”

Snufkin chuckled. “Well, welcome back.”

Joxter nodded. “I'm proud of you, kitten.”

Snufkin just rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed.

Moomintroll continued to hold onto Snufkin's hand as they started walking again. “So, how was your time with Pappa and his friends?”

“I learned things about my father I definitely didn't expect.”

The Joxter chuckled. “Oh, and what is that?”

“That apparently, at some point, he dated your father Moomintroll.”

Moomintroll nodded. “Isn't that so weird? Apparently they're still together like? Mamma never told me! It's so odd!”

“I didn't know that happened, since I also learned that Joxterpappa can't flirt to save his life.”

Little My laughed. “I always wondered how he got Mymblemamma to like him. The fact he got two people to date him is a miracle!”

Joxter cleared his throat. “Let's change the topic.”

Snufkin nodded. “I also learned that my pappa is a total softie. He started babying me the day he learned I was his son.”

The Joxter smiled and ruffled Snufkin's hair. “Gotta take care of my kitten!”

“Well, of course.”

“Just make sure to visit more than once every four years, okay?”

Snufkin nodded. “Oh, don't worry. I'll definitely give you a visit when Moomin and I travel this winter.”

Joxter smiled wider. “See you soon, then.”

Finally, Snufkin realized he didn't need to be independent. He just needed to have his family. He tightly held onto his new boyfriend’s hand as he saw the glimpse of the moominhouse in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter huh?
> 
> I'm already writing the first chapter for the spinoff as we speak so we aren't done with this yet but dang... this really is the end of the main story.
> 
> Big shout outs to all of y'all who made it this far! and extra love to Magnonette for being this fics biggest fan!
> 
> this is my first time completing a story like this so it really makes me happy that so many people liked it!


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